


Origins

by Rayj4ck



Series: Press Start to Begin [3]
Category: Astroneer (Video Game), DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/F, Half-Alien!Lena, Probably ;), There probably won't be more than one chapter, but if inspiration strikes..., thanks Professional Himbo for beta-ing!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22915819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayj4ck/pseuds/Rayj4ck
Summary: Webby finds something interesting on her journey out, and can't wait to show Lena.
Relationships: Lena (Disney: DuckTales)/Webby Vanderquack
Series: Press Start to Begin [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1592599
Kudos: 17





	Origins

**Author's Note:**

> I continue my evil tirade against Penumbra, first by naming a fic after her but not putting her in it, and now by making an AU with aliens and not putting her in this one either.

“I’m baaack!” Lena heard over her helmet’s comms. Smiling, she dropped the cable she was dragging across the ground and looked up to scan the horizon. Off to the west, striding up to their small habitat with a research sample in her arms, Webby was approaching. 

“Need a hand with that?” Lena resisted the urge to shout. It was hard sometimes, remembering that physical distance had no bearing on how well they could hear each other. 

“Nope! I’ve got it.” Lena didn’t expect any other answer. Webby’s muscled physique mirrored her role as the explorer of the two, usually taking their buggy and disappearing over the horizon. 

If they didn’t have comms, Lena would be much more nervous about it. She was more of the base manager, setting up the research Webby brought home and expanding and organizing their ever-changing habitat. 

Webby slotted the large root-like structure into the research platform, beginning the process without even bothering to check how many bytes it would net them. Now freed of the weight, she bounded over to where Lena was standing, bumping their face shields together gently in their standard analog for a kiss. 

“You’ll never guess what I found.” Lena could practically feel the excited buzz through their touching visors. 

“Not the root thing?” 

“No, it’s a  _ structure _ . And not just debris either.” Webby was bouncing on the balls of her feet. “It looked alien.” 

“Alien? Really?” Lena didn’t want to put Webby down, but she found it hard to believe. 

“Yeah! And it had power ports!” Webby was equal parts awe and energy. 

“Power ports?” That caught Lena off guard. According to Violet, she, Webby, and the triplets were the only ones in this system. An alien structure that fit their power ports….

“Come on! Grab as many small power sources you can!” Webby bounded over to one of the storage platforms, using her kinetic module to pull off a small wind turbine and affix it to her bag. 

“What? Why?”

“We’re going to go turn it on!”

* * *

As Lena craned her head back to look at the geometric structure before her, she had to admit, it looked like nothing she had ever seen before. It was made of a strange, shimmering substance that looked like it reflected the stars, despite none being visible in the sky. It was shaped vaguely like a cube, but with large sections cut neatly out of the face so the corners seemed to rest on fine points. It gave Lena an eerie feeling. 

“Webbz, are you sure turning this on is a good idea?” Lena asked as she climbed up the makeshift ramp behind her. “What if this thing explodes or something?”

“This seems like a pretty elaborate setup for a bomb.” Webby points out. “It seems like more of a statue or monument.” Logically, Lena agreed. But the eerie feeling wouldn’t go away. “Here!” Webby pointed over to one of three triangular sections protruding from the floor, and when she looked closer, Lena did see a power port on one side. 

“That’s interesting.” She mused. 

“Oh, wait ‘till you see this!” Webby pulled one of their biofuel generators off her pack, setting it up next to the port and hooking them together. The second they connected, a larger section composed of several smaller triangular tiles swiftly rose from the center of the floor. 

“Uhhh.” Lena wasn’t sure what to say. 

“Right?!” Webby was practically bouncing off the walls. “I think it needs a certain amount of power to get going. Hook up some generators to the other two!” Lena did so reluctantly, but she couldn’t deny her own curiosity at the structure’s purpose, unease or not. 

“Ready?” 

“Ready.” Lena had her finger on one chain of generator ON switches, her kinetic module ready on the other. 

“And, go!” Lena flipped her switches, watching as a purple bar around the center rose with the power the structure was receiving. Once it reached the top, an ominous rumbling began as the outer triangles of the center section sunk back into the floor. She walked around the structure back to Webby, never taking her eyes off of it. Once she reached Webby’s side, their hands entwined and Lena gave it a squeeze. Webby squeezed back, though Lena suspected for a different reason from her own.

When the last, major triangle sunk back into the floor, Lena’s vision abruptly changed. It was for just the briefest moment, but all Lena saw was stars, almost like the material of the structure had filled her vision. By the time she processed the event, it was over. That didn’t stop her from flinching and whipping her head frantically around. 

“Lena! Are you ok?” Webby was looking up at her, she assumed. The face shield made it difficult to tell. 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah. I think the hike over here did a number on me...I may need to get out of the base more.” Lena didn’t quite believe that was the answer, but she couldn’t think of an alternative. 

“Let’s head back then.” Webby kept their hands tightly clasped, and gently pulled her back toward the ramp down. 

“Wait, didn’t you want to see what it did?” Lena craned her neck over her shoulder, very hard to do in a spacesuit. In place of the columns in the middle sat a singular platform, a geometric, perfectly smooth stone bobbing above it composed of a substance her visor couldn’t identify. Webby would be all over this. 

“It’ll be here tomorrow. Besides, you should rest. We can report to Violet about what we saw, and see if she’s heard anything from the boys about something similar.” 

Lena didn’t feel any reason to argue as she let Webby lead her away from the stone. It was giving her a strange feeling, a mixture of apprehension and the sensation of drawing her in.

* * *

“Did you see anything...strange at that structure today?”

Webby spat the toothpaste out of her mouth. “Besides the whole thing?”

“Well, yeah.” Lena thought about how to phrase her question. “Any flashes of light or anything?”

“No, not that I can remember.” Webby turned off the light over the sink, then slid the sink back into the wall and made her way over to the bed. Lena held up the covers, and Webby gratefully slid under them. “Why?”

“Oh, just wanted to see if any more details had come to us. Update our report.” Violet had said that the triplets hadn’t reported anything like what they had seen to her, but she would be sure to ask when they next checked in. 

“Ah. Fair. Nope, nothing new. Still, exciting though! I think I’m going to go back tomorrow and see if I can chip off some samples.” 

“Naturally.” Lena knew she couldn’t convince Webby away from it, even if she had wanted to. Despite the unease the strange geometric structure caused her, Lena knew something like this could be revolutionary. Proof of extraterrestrial life! It was almost too amazing to be true. 

Webby snuggled up to her side, and Lena put an arm over her shoulders, placing a quick kiss on her temple before they drifted off to sleep.

That night, Lena dreamed she was soaring through the stars, the unending cosmos hers to explore at will. But despite this, she couldn’t shake the morose feeling she was leaving something important behind. 

**Author's Note:**

> Webby: Hey, when did you put sparkles in your hair stripe?  
> Lena: Uh, never.  
> Webby: Really? It looks good. Kind of like stars.


End file.
